Sex allocation and reproductive success in the andromonoecious perennial Solanum carolinense (Solanaceae). I. Female success

Abstract

Relative allocation of resources to growth vs. reproduction has long been known to be an important determinant of reproductive success. The importance of variation in allocation to different structures within reproductive allocation is somewhat less clear. This study was designed to elucidate the importance of allocation to vegetative vs. reproductive functions, and allocation within reproductive functions (sex allocation), to realized female success in an andromonoecious plant, Solanum carolinense. Allocation measurements were taken on plants in experimental arrays exposed to natural pollination conditions. These measurements included total flower number, the proportion of flowers that were male, flower size, and vegetative size. Flower number explained the majority of the variation among individuals in their success-that is, there was strong selection for increased flower production. There was also selection to decrease the proportion of flowers that were male, but neither flower size nor vegetative size (a measure of overall resource availability) were direct determinants of female success. After Bonferroni corrections for multiple comparisons, most phenotypic correlations among the traits measured were nonsignificant. Thus, in this andromonoecious species there is not a strong relationship between resource availability (vegetative size) and female success, and female success is instead determined by the relative production of the two different flower types.